Now 17, Finn the Human has become a mature hero of Ooo. However, repressed feelings for Flame Princess are desperately trying to tear him apart, and the fiery girl knows his pain. As an ancient evil rises to consume all existence, a final chance will present itself to Finn and his friends to not only stop the madness but finally unite a couple struggling for each other's love.

Disclaimer: I do not own Adventure Time or any of it's affiliations, just any OC's

Chapter 1: Raining Memories

If it weren't for the repeating thump, thump of the rain hitting the roof, the inside of Finn's house would've been completely silent. Outside the sky was a thick shroud of darkness, not that it mattered since it was the middle of the night anyway. Countless creaks and drips could be heard throughout the tree's trunk, revealing all the beatings the old house had taken in years past.

Finn, as usual, was lying in his bed, arms behind his back, staring at the ceiling, waiting to fall asleep. It wasn't that he didn't exhaust himself from all he'd done that day, or that his mattress wasn't comfortable enough. This was just the normal everyday flow of events. The young hero comes home from a day of adventuring and dozens of other tasks, eats dinner in silence, then simply climbs up to his room and jumps onto the bed. It had been this way each time, ever since Finn's best friend Jake moved in with Lady Rainicorn, having finally gotten the guts to marry her.

Finn was 17 now, he understood his brother completely. He needed to be close to his wife-as the preacher at the candy church had said-in sickness and in health. The human was fully prepared for the dramatic shift in his life, a fact that surprised many people, especially Jake and Princess Bubblegum. The candy princess became quite impressed with how mature Finn had turned out. In just a few short years he had gone from goofy little teenager to focused and determined young man.

Still, Finn occasionally let himself loose while partying or fighting giant monsters. Both were common occurrences for a hero of his caliber. Plus, Finn didn't get to see many friends anymore. Being older, PB believed the hero could handle much more dangerous missions, some of which could take weeks to accomplish. The feel of his soft, warm bed after each success was like a graceful relief to Finn's aching body.

The human let out a sigh, tilting his head back further. He spotted the family sword hanging from its usual position above his bed. The crimson blade appeared quite worn, with several rough spots, stains of various blood from countless monsters, and worst of all, a chip about halfway up the length of the weapon.

The last quest Bubblegum had sent Finn on ended with him facing off a powerful enemy, an actual demon. It took a while for the hero to understand that the strikes from his sword were having little effect on the creature due to the similarity of the two objects. Demon blood apparently counters other demon blood. Luckily, the human always carried a small backup blade in his green pack, which he promptly used to behead the dangerous enemy before it managed to finish him off. The battle was not without consequences, clearly seen by the ruined appearance of the once glorious red sword.

Finn managed to remember an important chore for the next day. I've got to get my sword to a blacksmith fast, never know when I'll be leaving for another crazy mission for PB.

He thought for a moment, gazing once again at the wooded ceiling above. He decided the best place to go would be the Fire Kingdom. About a year ago, while exploring the blazing lands, Finn came across a blacksmith's shop. It used to be that shopkeepers' attitudes for outsiders were less than desirable, but that was before the eventual influence of Flame Princess's new order. The vast majority of the Fire Kingdom's citizens had found the value of being honest and open-minded. Running the shop and accompanying forge was a friendly fire elemental named Ferrum.

The man was quite revered in the land of weaponry due to his skill with enchanted fire. It was rumored that his grandfather crafted Nothung, the very sword once used by the great hero Billy. Finn had remained a loyal customer and friend to Ferrum ever since the elemental happily fixed the boy's trusty katana. If anyone could repair the family sword it was him.

Lost in thoughts of the time ahead, Finn never noticed Beemo walk into the room. The tiny robot hopped onto the bed and lay down on the boy's chest, taking the same position with his arms behind his head, er, body.

"Still having sleep problems, Finn?" the small computer asked with a hint of concern.

The human took in a deep breath then calmly let it out. "Yeah, but no probs, this is my thinking time, I don't get to do it any other time of the day, too busy slashing up evil or climbing through totally nuts swamps and mountains."

Beemo may have been naïve but was by no means unintelligent. It got up and walked over to the front of the bed, sitting back down near Finn's head. "Finn, can't you please tell me what's been bothering you? You've been like this ever since Jake moved out."

The boy looked down with a frown, now staring at the empty cabinet where his best yellow buddy used to snore loudly, every so often mumbling about sandwiches and meat man.

Finn chuckled a bit at the thought but it quickly faded as his sight fell upon the only thing keeping light in the room: a single candle. His deep blue eyes were filled with gold as his mind continued to focus on the silent dancing flame at the top of the white piece of wax.

Beemo, noticing his friend wasn't answering, leaded forward to look the boy in the face, only to notice where his attention was drawn. The little game box took a moment to think before putting together a guess in his mechanical brain.

"You're thinking about Flame Princess, aren't you, Finn?"

The hero quickly shook his head out of his trance and sat up. "What? No! I'm just..just thinking about how much I miss the company of a warm fire." Finn struggled a bit to push out that sentence and Beemo caught it. He made a wide grin before responding. "A living warm fire maybe?" it giggled. Finn's face flushed slightly.

"No Beemo, I…I- I'm just, lonely." The hero brought up his knees and laid his chin on top of them. "With Jake gone it's not the same around here, everything's all mathed up. He was always there to understand me and help me whenever I was down or close to giving up. Even you, Beemo, are always going out to see your family back at the Mo factory. You guys both have people to turn to. Jake was the only family I had left and now it's his time to start his own future. I respect his decision and know it's right for him but at the same time now I'm all alone." A few tears could be seen escaping the human's tightly shut eyelids.

Beemo had grown a large frown of concern. It knew the situation now but didn't quite know what to do. Finn slid back down into his bed and laid down on his left side, away from the living computer.

After patting the young hero on the head, Beemo jumped off the bed and walked over to the other side, blowing out the candle. "Goodnight, Finn."

As the machine climbed down the ladder from Finn's room, it finally came up with an idea on how to at least give its friend a nice start the next morning. Beemo got onto the table in the living room and began dialing a number on its internal phone. It waited for the ring a few moments before someone picked up. A great yawn was heard. "Hello?" said a sleepy voice. Beemo was both glad and surprised that Jake was still awake.

"Jake, its Beemo, do you have a minute?"

A few seconds passed. "Yeah sure little buddy, but why are you calling at this late hour?"

"Never mind that. Finn just came back from another journey and seems very sad with no one to talk to. Could you please come over in the morning, maybe make some bacon-pancakes for him?" Beemo waited eagerly for a response.

"Sure, anything to help out my bro, I don't see him enough anyways."

The game bot jumped up in success before replying. "Thanks so much Jake, see you at around 8 then, bye." It didn't want to waste anymore of the dog's sleep time, which was already extremely valuable to him.

With carefully and patient accuracy, the sun beamed its light straight through the window, hitting the sleeping human in the eyes. Slowly, Finn blinked his lids until he could fully see the bedroom around him. The rest of Finn's senses followed his sight, the first being his hearing, which was immediately occupied by a familiar singing.

"Bacon pancakes, makin' bacon pancakes, take some bacon and put it on a pancake, bacon pancakes, makin…"

Finn's attention shot up as did his head, smacking the hinges holding the demon blood sword. "Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his temple.

Like most of the time, he hadn't bothered to strip to his underwear for bed and ended up sleeping fully clothed. At least it saved him some time as he began climbing down the ladder to the kitchen. A savory and mouth-watering taste could be taken in as Finn neared the source of the singing. He knew very well who it was and couldn't be happier to get a break from all the craziness that he'd been through for the past few weeks.

Having reached the kitchen, the young man turned to see the back of a jolly yellow bulldog, his faithful brother. "Jake!" Finn yelled in joy before running to the slightly spooked canine.

"Finn! Aw I missed you too bro." the dog responded, hugging the human with his arms before stretching and wrapping them around his sibling. "Uh, Jake, I can't breathe that well." Realizing how hard he was gripping him, the dog quickly retracted his magical limbs and set Finn back on the ground.

"What are you doing here, man?" the excited human cried.

"Oh just stopping by. A little bird told me my homie had returned from some rhombus mission and wanted a bit of company."

"Chirp, chirp," Beemo sang from the kitchen table.

Finn was grateful. "Thanks, Beemo. I really needed this."

The machine showed a beaming face on its screen. "No problem, Finn."

Jake motioned for his brother to sit at the table. "Come on dude, bacon pancakes are just about done."

"Alright!" the young man shouted. He was feeling much more energetic today, more like a kid. He missed those days.

The three friends finally settled to the table and began devouring the stacks of food Jake had prepared (well, Beemo just threw it all at his face plate while making eating sounds). Finally, the table was a disaster, bits of grease and pancake chunks were everywhere. The heroes however, were most satisfied, as indicated by the huge burps following the drinking of their milk.

"Oh man, I missed your bacon pancakes Jake, no one I know can make them better than you."

The dog gave a slight blush. "Aw thanks bro. Heh, I make breakfast every morning for me and Lady so I get a lot of practice."

Finn's enthusiastic look started to melt away, eventually returning to, for the most part, a frown.

Jake noticed his sibling's expression and pulled himself out of his memories. He looked at Beemo, who nodded and left the table to go about the day's business. Meanwhile, Jake scooted over to his brother and placed a paw on his shoulder.

"Listen Finn, Beemo told me about last night. What's the matter, man? You know you can talk to me."

Finn gazed out the window; the sun was brightly showing the vast grasslands beyond the tree house. "I'm just, lonely dude. I know that most of the time I'm busy being a hero but somehow even the long quests that I go on seem to lose my interest. It's weird but I feel drawn back home you know, like I'm wanting to just relax, kick back, do some local heroics but never get too far from someone to talk to. Do you know at all what this feeling is, Jake?"

The young man's brother stared at him with a studying look. It wasn't strange to him, not in the least. His best friend was 17 now, soon to be 18. He had that urge, the want to have someone, and he knew exactly what it meant, especially with what Beemo had told him about the night before.

"Finn, let me ask you something. You might take it wrong but it's important to help you understand yourself."

The human looked into his friend's large eyes. "What is it?"

Jake took another sip of his milk and then set it aside. "Finn, how do you feel about Flame Princess?"

In addition to the quick shock appearing on Finn's face, the dog could have sworn he heard a quiet gasp from somewhere in the room. His decided it may have just been Beemo and turned his full attention back to his friend.

"W-what do you mean by that? What does that have to do with it?" Even while he was rejecting the question Finn felt some part of him knew exactly what the magic dog was talking about.

Jake gave his bro a serious yet concerned stare. "You know what I mean dude; the candle?"

Finn's eyes widened in surprise. "Beemo even mentioned that, jeez." He smacked his head into the table before slowly raising it and putting his hands on his jaw. He sighed, knowing that listening to his besty was a wise move.

"I know that we're just friends now but I still have feelings for her, the special kind, and I've always kinda hoped she still had them too. But she's the ruler of the Fire Kingdom now, just like PB rules the Candy Kingdom, she's just as busy and distracted by watching over her people, they come first." Finn looked back out the window, as if trying to spot the blazing volcanoes of the place he was talking about. "Back when I liked Bubblegum I was too immature to realize her responsibilities, but now, seeing FP doing the same, it's helped me finally see the importance of the many to the few, especially when it's just the one me."

Finn sighed again. Jake's lack of response told him he wasn't finished. "Ok, fine. I'll spill. I've hung out with her as a friend for over two years now, and every time I try to hold back my true feelings out of respect for her. And still, I can't lie to myself. I don't just like her Jake, it feels like she's the one that I always want to talk to about, well, whatever. I-I love her. I really do."

Another wisp of a gasp was heard in Jake's ear. He paid it no mind, already glued to his brother's spilling of the beans.

"I feel like I'd never give up trying to find a way. Forget about being able to kiss her, or hug her, or even touch her hand, I just want to be able to see her every day; I'd replace the sun with her in a heartbeat."

Finn slowly looked back at the yellow canine. The bulldog was silent, taking in all that his friend had laid out in front of him. Finally, he took a deep breath and began to explain.

"Believe it or not buddy, I've dealt with the same feelings."

Finn's interest instantly peaked. Jake has the answer? Of course he does, he always does! A flicker of excitement shown in the hero's depressed features.

Jake motioned for the human to walk with him. They both got up and approached the large window by the stove. They stared out carefully, actually being able to see some smoke over the horizon, indicating the still burning Fire Kingdom.

"You want a woman dude, a lady to spend your life with, someone who's there for you when no one else can be. For years while dating Lady I began feeling exactly what you are now. That's what finally pushed me to propose to her. I knew that it was time we grew old together and spend every day together." He put his paw on Finn's shoulder. "I'm sorry for leaving you man but you understand, I need Lady, she's my everything."

Awaiting a response, Jake removed his hand. Finn stared quietly at the rising smoke. Finally, after what felt like an hour, he replied.

"Odds are that FP will want to be engaged to some fire prince, someone who she can actually be with. After all, even if she sees me as more than a friend it would never work because of the flames from not just her but her whole kingdom." Finn clenched his fists. "There's always something separating me from the people I need most. With PB it was age, with you it's Lady, and now with FP, the girl that I've grown to…to love with all my heart, we are separated by nature itself, which left me with a weak human body that won't even let me show my princess how much I miss and care for her."

Finn had started to tear up again, placing his open palms on the glass. "It's for the best, without me, a lot of evil people we're eventually shown the error of their ways. As far as I can see it, if Flame Princess can be happy with finally finding her calling then I can gladly let go of my heart to make sure her's is at peace. I worry for her too much to hurt her chances of a happy life that was once stolen from her."

Jake had never seen his brother this distressed. Amazingly enough, Finn suddenly cracked a smile through his wet cheeks. He looked almost desperately through the window. Then, as if speaking to someone many miles away, he whispered. "You are my everything, princess, and I'll go my whole life keeping you happy, in any way I can." As a final act to Finn's incredible confession, he gently kissed the glass for a few moments, before backing away, still holding a brave smile to his face.

"I'll always love you FP, even if I have to do it from the shadows."

With his final words spoken, Finn turned to Jake and placed his hand on the dog's shoulder. He nodded, still with the smile, thanking his sibling for being a true friend. Jake was still stunned but gave his best effort in a half-hearted grin.

With that, the young man turned toward the ladder and walked away. As he climbed the wooded bracing, Jake sadly watched him go. The last thing he noticed was a dimming light coming from the stovetop. He eyed the kitchen equipment carefully, noticing he had forgotten to turn it off after making breakfast. He could have sworn he saw the flickering flames in an odd, slender shape. He blinked, only to see the normal ring of tiny fires ready to cook food.

Suddenly, a thump was heard. Jake turned around to see that Finn had returned; his pack on his back and the demon blood sword in his hand. The hero pointed to the missing fragment of the blade. Jake understood, nodding. Finn opened the door and walked out toward the Fire Kingdom, without saying word.

Jake turned back to the stovetop, again just missing the strange shape in the orange glow. I should get Neptr to check the gas valve junk on this thing. With that, he turned the knob to the off position, cancelling out the dimming flames.

Flame Princess sat in front of the mirror in her bedroom, staring back at the astonished expression on her face. For a few minutes, there was no time to reflect, she still needed time to take it all in.

She had woken up this morning with many thoughts in her head. How to get a stockpile of raw building materials for the expanding kingdom, the negotiation this afternoon with the Rock Kingdom, what to get Cinnamon Bun for his upcoming birthday, how to get her father to shut up. However, even with the list of royal duties she had to tend to, she still had some stray thoughts about someone who hadn't visited in a while. Finn. She knew he was on another dangerous quest for Princess Bubblegum, but Flambo, the ever informative flambit, had announced his return just the other evening. She had hoped that after several weeks of stress for her young ruling life she could spend a few hours with a trusted friend who could at least make decent conversation, no offense to CB.

No matter how much she had matured though, FP had an infamous curiosity streak. Against her morals of no spying or deceit, she decided to enter Finn's house that morning through any source of fire she could connect with, just to make sure he was alright.

What she found however, was much deeper than she could have guessed. The guilt of what she had heard hung over her the rest of the morning, distracting her from combing her impossibly wild hair.

"Finn..." she said to herself.

"After all this time, the years of hiding all of your emotions." Even though the law of the Fire Kingdom prohibited lying or secrets, FP had never actually asked Finn how he felt; he, in turn, had also been a truly good friend the past two years. There was no deceit here, only a realization that he could never have her by his side.

You have to be totally honest with me.

Her own words floated out of nowhere.

He was honest, he accepted the truth. There is nothing I can hold against him.

The princess struggled with the flames encircling her head, as if they had a mind of their own, responding to the revelation FP had heard from Finn's own mouth. Giving up, she simply shrunk down her fire, not wanting to deal with the burning curls above her face, and decided that today she would stick with her short hair.

Flame Princess had long ago abandoned the awkward suit of the flame ruler, favoring a modified version of her classic royal dress. One night, while going to bed, she could have sworn she heard her father sadly whisper to himself that she looked just like her mother. She ignored the source but couldn't help being a little proud to be thought of as a true flame queen.

The beautiful puffed out dress slid on easily without having to deal with her strangely aggressive crimson locks getting caught anywhere in it. "Maybe I should have short hair more often." She mused to herself in the mirror. With a final touch of her crown, FP walked out of her room and down the halls toward the throne room.

Cinnamon Bun was already playing with his fire wolf, having it chase him all around the room while laughing happily. Flame Princess grinned and took her seat, noticing that her father was still snoring loudly in the lantern. As she waited for the first business of the day, FP felt something on her cheek. Quickly placing her hand to her face, she found that it was a tear of lava. The young ruler jumped a bit, holding her hand out to see for herself.

Sure enough, a bright orange smudge of liquid rock sat in her palm. The princess was suddenly scared, realizing she had broken her own rule. She had lied to herself the whole way down to the throne room, using all her strength to ignore the sharp pain in her heart. Her instincts had taken over, unopposed. After all, what opportunity did she ever have to let her teenage need for a person to talk to come out? Just about a year. The year that changed her life, the year she realized how to help her people, the year that she thought maybe, just maybe, someone had given her a chance to have her own life. She did, she had indeed her own life. Now, at the peak of that achievement, the brightening of the Fire Kingdom, her heart asked her a single question: "He will give you everything he has just so you'll be happy, what are you going to do about it?"

For the most part, ignore any future A/N. They are outdated, I'm just too lazy to go through every chapter and delete them.

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